If you love the look of Victorian children or baby doll styles but tend to be rather dark in your outlook and prefer dark color schemes like black, dark blues and purple then you may want to become a Gothic Lolita (known in Japan as gosurori, "goth-loli"). And we can help! We’ve got four lovely dresses to choose from:

Wikipedia explains that the Gothic Lolita style is a mixture of the Gothic and Lolita fashions. As with western gothic subculture, cross jewelry and other religious symbols are also used to accessorize the look, and bags and purses are often in uncommon shapes like bats, coffins, and crucifixes. Like many other Lolita fashions, the Japanese visual kei movement was responsible for helping to introduce and popularize the Gothic Lolita style. One artist in particular, Mana, a Japanese musician and fashion-designer, is considered to be the major force behind the popularization of the Gothic Lolita style, describing his designs as Elegant Gothic Lolita (EGL) and Elegant Gothic Aristocrat (EGA).

One article by a follower of the movement puts it this way: “The Lolita style of dress is inspired by the romantic images of the Victorian era (1837–1901) and the Edwardian era (1901–1910), or Belle Epoque, with influences stretching as far back as the Rococo movement, which reached its height under the reign of Louis XV in the 1730s. However, the Lolita we speak of in terms of fashion differs greatly from its historic predecessors. Our Lolita lives for innocence, decadence, and a life of elegance. And she was born in the 1980s, and then coddled by her rock-god parents in the 1990s.”

Amazon.com has several volumes of The Gothic & Lolita Bible for more information, and you can become part of the EGL community on LiveJournal.

Earlier this month, the Manila Bulletin reported that the world’s first cosplay museum opened in the Philippines. The museum boasts “costume displays that range from spectacular robotic and creature costumes to elegant gowns and anime garb”. It also preserves historical cosplay costumes, rescuing them from deterioration and preserving their legacy for future generations.

A joint project of Cosplay.ph (the “.ph” is the “.com” of the Philippines) and Diliman Preparatory School (DPS), the museum also offers an extensive gallery from premier cosplay photographers along with a wealth of information highlighting the landmark events in cosplay history.

Cosplay.ph says, “the Cosplay Museum is meant as an educational beacon to enlighten the general public about Cosplay, its roots and historical landmarks in the Philippines and to educate the youth on the various aspects of Cosplay.”

It is also a venue for cosplay workshops, discussions, gatherings and events like mini-catwalks or Maid Cafe days. Cosplayers are welcome to gather, interact and enjoy the company of other cosplayers without the competitive component or entrance fee that come with the usual cosplay conventions. Plus, events will occur with greater frequency than conventions.

The cosplay workshops allow anyone to learn the craft of the cosplay costume from veteran cosplayers, focusing not only on technique but also on issues from using recycled materials to balancing one’s life. The workshops strive to bring costume craftsmanship to a higher level.

As Cosplay.ph says, “It's launching is testament to the growing positive influence of Cosplay, not merely as a hobby, but as an art form and educational media.”

We at Moon Costumes have something of a cosplay museum ourselves! Just click on the word “Cosplay” on our menu to the left, and be taken to a directory of all the costumes we have available. Click on the anime representation and you’ll get a photo and description of the actual costume!

Today, January 18, is National Winnie the Pooh Day! Every year on January 18th, millions of fans across the globe celebrate the birth of A.A. Milne, the author of Winnie the Pooh. And of course, we’ve got great costumes for kids to dress up.

Visit our Classic Disney Costumes section or just type your favorite character’s name into our search box. Some of the costumes for babies are shown above. We couldn’t resist!

~On the left you see an adorable, and not at all depressed, little Eeyore. We’ve also got Eeyore costumes for older kids, and even one for your dog!

~In the middle is Pooh himself. We have a larger full-body plush for an older child, a hooded vest, and a costume for 3-12 month old little’uns.

~On the right is Pooh’s cute little pal, Piglet, made for 12 – 18 month-olds.

Take time today to read one of the classics by A.A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Or watch a Winnie the Pooh DVD or play a video game!

Next week we can all look forward to celebrating some interesting and fun holidays! On Thursday, January 14th it’s National Dress Up Your Pet Day!

We’ve got a great selection of Costumes for Pets that we’ve divided into three categories: Classic Costumes, Famous Characters and Halloween.

~In Classic Costumes for Pets you’ll find hippies and clowns, plus princesses, pimps and prisoners. There’s a hound dog dressed like Elvis, a Watchdog outfit that features a giant timepiece on the back and a Lucky Dog tunic covered in good luck charms.

~And in the Pets Halloween section, you’ll find a Pumpkin, a pirate, a witch and even Dracula!

If you don’t have a pet, but would like one that’s a little out of the ordinary, you can enjoy Appreciate a Dragon Day on Saturday, the 16th of January. Search for “dragon” from our webpage and you’ll get a selection that includes costumes for babies as well as puppets and props. Wearing our Baby Shoulder Dragon might qualify you for Dress Up by Wearing Your Pets day….

Though Dragon*Con isn’t until September 2010, you don’t have to wait long to attend VisionCon in Springfield, Missouri—a Sci-fi, Fantasy, Gaming, Comics, Media and Animation convention that includes LARPs--or ConFusion in Troy, Michigan. Both take place January 22 – 24. Then there’s Con-Jour on the 29th through 31st of January at the University of Houston at Clearlake, Texas.

Whether you want to dress your pet or yourself, Moon Costumes has what you need!

This weekend in California you can find two Anime cons with some interesting guests. Anime Los Angeles has a group called The Spoony Bards as Guests of Honor. A group of musicians who love to play video game and anime music by request, The Spoony Bards have been known to play for days at a time at conventions. One example is seen in the video above, where they play the Mario Bros. theme song for the guys cosplaying as said brothers.

After meeting at Anime Central 2004, The Spoony Bards have come to be known for their ability to assemble any available combination of vocal and instrumental talents to provide an enjoyable atmosphere for fellow fans to hang out, listen, dance, laugh, and sing along. In addition to performing concerts for conventions, dances, charity, and private events, some of them even cosplay while they perform!

Also this weekend, Sac-Anime in Sacramento has film star Chris Sarandon as one of their esteemed guests. He is best known by film fans for his role as Prince Humperdinck in Rob Reiner’s 1987 film The Princess Bride, though many may also know him as the hypnotic vampire-next-door in the teen horror classic Fright Night (1985). In Con circles, he’s known and loved as the voice of Jack Skellington, the main character in Tim Burton’s animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). He has reprised the role in many other spinoff productions, including the Squaresoft/Disney video games Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II and the Capcom sequel to the original film, Oogie’s Revenge.

So if you’re in California this weekend, check out one of both of these cons and get your cosplay on!

We found an online forum where cosplayers discussed their new year’s resolutions. Here are the top ones:

1. To lose or gain weight, or tone or build muscle, so they feel more confident in their cosplay costumes.2. To be braver and go from being a closet cosplayer to a competitive cosplayer3. To get a job, or a better one, so they can spend more money on cosplays4. To learn more about prop making with different materials5. To go to more cons and become more in tune with the cosplay community6. To plan their time better so they’re not pulling all-nighters before a con or finishing things off in the hotel room7. To restrict themselves to one costume per event, so they can focus all their time and energy one doing it well.8. To learn to accept it if a costume won't get done in time and not beat themselves up over it9. To become more sociable at events and to get over con-shyness.10. To win a cosplay contest!